... affecting and adventurous ... Chen takes a lively stab, imagining the illiterate teenager as an abused child who uses her anger (and a remarkable tolerance for pain) to become an avenging warrior ... Chen’s solution is elegant and timely. Her Joan is just plain tougher than all those knights and noblemen, a born fighter who, as a child, recreates Agincourt with rocks, gets a bull’s-eye with her very first attempt at a longbow and is a preternatural genius at military planning ... Chen creates a rich, visceral world ... This is not your grandmother’s St. Joan. The usual tale of visions and visitations is portrayed here as merely a feature of the time ... by trading religious romanticism for the romanticism of war (especially as depicted by popular fiction), something profound gets lost ... The Joan of history is fascinating because she is enigmatic. To replace her inexplicable nature with a revenge plot is reductive. And to make Joan less mystic makes her less interesting ... The closest Chen’s Joan gets to reverie is the epilogue, when — captured, caged and headed for certain death — she seems more Mel Gibson than Ingrid Bergman ... It may not be the most nuanced portrayal, but if every generation gets the Joan it deserves, ours could do worse than an ass-kicking, avenging angel fighting simply for the right to fight.
Ms. Chen retrieves the worn fragments of Joan of Arc’s story and assembles them into a narrative that’s eerie, austere and just this side of plausible...To do so is no small feat ... The fierce conviction of Ms. Chen’s vision of Joan drives this historical novel ... As any chronicler of Joan of Arc must be, Ms. Chen is adept at describing physical violence; this wrist-breaking episode prefigures the breathless battle scenes to come ... Ms. Chen is equally skilled at charting how Joan’s sanctified reputation grows ... Novels that try to get inside historical figures we can’t ever know are most illuminating for what they say about their own moments. Ms. Chen’s Joan, unlike so many of her fictional and cinematic predecessors, is no gamine, no little Maid of Orléans. Instead, female physical power—undiluted by piety or conventional feminine attractiveness—is celebrated here ... Surely many readers will feel that Ms. Chen has summoned up just the Joan of Arc that this anxious, repressive age demands, even if her hope is not easily summoned.
Chen's often-gorgeous prose moves smoothly from Joan's village to the luxurious, treacherous French court. Throughout, Joan's musings on the hampered roles of women and peasants in a disorganized, beleaguered France are progressive yet still historically believable ... The novel features a large cast of characters, listed at the book's opening, and occasionally I had to turn to the list to remind myself about a character. For readers who love Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy or Lauren Groff's Matrix, Joan offers similar pleasures with its immediacy and somewhat contemporary tone. It's an immersive evocation of a character whose name everyone knows, all these centuries later, but whom, perhaps, none of us knows at all.
In graceful prose, occasionally over-seasoned with similes, and using the present tense, the language of the eternal now, Chen suspends Joan in a liminal space where her historical visceral reality, her agency and the mystery of her unearthly gifts can coexist ... Chen helps the reader suspend disbelief by presenting Joan as a beguiling, fully human mix of wariness and confidence, and fiercely protective of those she loves ... after skilfully avoiding so many pitfalls of writing woman-as-hero, Chen stumbles into the tired trope of woman-as-avenging-angel ... Joan’s pressing fear helps maintain our willingness to believe as she becomes a savant of war. For here at last is the true Joan, glorious in the flower of her strength, leading her men to victory after victory.
Chen’s new work of historical fiction traces the life of Joan of Arc from 1422 (during her childhood) until her capture by the English in 1430...The author portrays Joan as a complex person, shaped by experiences throughout her life that drive her to become a soldier and martyr for France...While Chen acknowledges that she has taken many liberties with Joan’s story to make it relatable to the novel’s readers, the result is an intense character whose motivations are far more complex than the religious fanaticism that’s often associated with Joan...Chen’s novel isn’t intended to replace a biography of Joan of Arc; instead, it’s a good choice for historical fiction readers who are curious for a unique perspective on the saint, one which may serve as an entry point to learn more about her life.
Jeanne d’Arc became a symbol, rather than a person, the moment she joined the court in exile of the Dauphin, the outcast prince who would become Charles VII, King of France...Making her real requires imagination and empathy, and Chen brings both to the task of putting solid flesh on the charred bones of a legendary figure...The Joan we meet here is not a saint...She’s a savant, and her genius is for violence...Although it’s very different in tone from Matrix (2021), Chen’s take on the Maid of Orléans feels similar to that of Lauren Groff’s version of Marie de France...Both authors present their protagonists as women who understand that it's their destiny to be powerful, and both authors allow these women to possess beliefs and attitudes that may be anachronistic but feel true—and satisfying—in context...That Joan will be captured, convicted of heresy, and die at the age of 19 is a foregone conclusion, but as Joan approaches bodily death she foresees her second life as a symbol...An elegant and engaging work of historical fiction.
Chen offers a smartly written rendition of the life of Joan of Arc (1412–1431)...Chen’s Joan is a secularized heroine whose relationship to God amounts to 'bargaining' and whose very human nature sweeps her up in rivalries at court...Chen incorporates a plethora of courtiers and clergy, knights, soldiers, and common folk into her vivid scenes, whether a village fair at Vaucouleurs or the daily struggles in war-torn France...While some readers may question Chen’s reimagining of Joan’s character, she does a wonderful job depicting Joan’s soldier mentality and fierce heart...Like the passionate protagonist, this is a force to be reckoned with.
